Chanel Does Storm Trooper-Chic for Spring 2017

It wasn’t just the star-studded front row – which included Usher, Soko, and Lily-Rose Depp, to name a few – that gave Chanel a hint of Hollywood this season: For spring 2017, Karl Lagerfeld peppered his runway with an army of storm troopers that looked straight out of Star Wars. Faces obscured, though aided by goggles in the shape of Herr Karl’s ubiquitous sunglasses, they found their way around the Grand Palais, which had been transformed into the “Chanel Data Center” with aisle after aisle of computer processors. But, as this season’s double-C logo composed of frayed electrical cables and USB cords hinted, this wasn’t the wireless, future-facing technology extravaganza you might expect: Instead, it was all about throwbacks, complete with side ponytails and backwards baseball caps sported by the models who went unmasked. In the midst of all that, of course, was the collection: Classic Chanel suits and tweeds, accented with ’80s prints and light-up purses – some even in the shape of robots.